‘Real-life Martha’ Fiona Harvey sues Netflix for $50M over Baby Reindeer ‘defamation’: Woman who says show’s stalker is based on her denies ever going to prison or to court
The woman who claims she is the inspiration Netflix‘s stalking drama Baby Reindeer is suing the streaming platform for $50 million.
Fiona Harvey, who says main character Martha’s life is based on her own, denies ever going to jail or court, as the show depicts.
Harvey claims Netflix allowed viewers to track her down in real life and she is now being bombarded with abuse, according to legal filings obtained by TMZ.
In the series, Martha is depicted as a stalker who constantly harasses the main character Donny, played by Richard Gadd.
There now appears to be a legal showdown between Netflix and the woman who claims her alleged portrayal in Baby Reindeer is untrue. Pictured: Fiona Harvey
Fiona Harvey, who says the life of main character Martha (pictured) is based on her own life, denies ever going to jail or court, as the show shows
Harvey claims she is being bombarded with hate from all over the world because of the way Martha is portrayed in the Netflix hit.
She claims she never stalked Gadd, never sexually assaulted him, and has never been convicted of stalking.
The Scot claims that Netflix led viewers to believe that fictional elements of the show were factual.
As a result, Harvey is suing the show for defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and right of publicity violations, among other charges.
She is seeking more than $50 million in damages.
It was previously exclusively revealed in the Mail that the show’s writer Richard Gadd, who plays himself and based the premise on his own experiences, told makers Clerkenwell Films that his stalker has never been convicted.
Sources indicate that Gadd told Clerkenwell that the stalker was the subject of an “exclusion order” – a civil order and not the same as a criminal conviction for stalking.
This means that the show was always a fictionalized dramatization, although it was released under a banner that read “This is a true story.”
Richard Gadd, who wrote and starred in the miniseries, pictured in North London
Harvey says the show, which stars Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning (pictured), makes false claims about her
Richard and Jessica photographed during the photo shoot in Los Angeles last month
Embarrassingly, a Netflix executive, Benjamin King, recently told a House of Commons committee that Gadd had suffered at the hands of “a convicted stalker.”
It is not clear how Clerkenwell Films described the situation to Netflix, or what compliance procedures were followed.
Gadd previously said that Martha’s identity was so well hidden that she wouldn’t recognize herself – but internet sleuths quickly identified Harvey as Martha.
The actress who plays the character, Jessica Gunning, looks a lot like her.
In a previous interview, Gadd said the situation was “resolved,” but did not explain how. He added: “It’s very emotionally true. I was seriously stalked and abused.’
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Harvey denied the stalking allegations but admitted she had met Gadd several times in Camden, north London.
She has instructed The Roth Law Firm in New York.
